Kung Fu Crabtree
Summary Constable Crabtree, Inspector Brackenreid, and Mrs. Brackenreid are walking into a Chinese restaurant where many other police officers are sitting, along with a high table full of Chinese dignitaries. Inspector Brackenreid is confused, as he thought they were supposed to bring their wives, while Mrs. Brackenreid declares she didn't want to come, due to the fact she hears they eat duck feet and eyeballs. Crabtree reassures her, telling her he's eaten Chinese food and it's actually quite good. Murdoch is conspicuously absent, and George thinks it's because of Dr. Ogden refusing his proposal. Margaret makes a pointed remark about how passion fades over time, and also teaches the men how to use chopsticks properly. The Chinese dignitary rises to speak and introduces himself as Chow Wei and is here to ask for help in arresting leaders of the Boxer Rebellion who may be hiding in Toronto. Chow Wei then sits down, and the man on his right stands up, introducing himself as Sun Yang, a detective from Hong Kong, and distributes photos of wanted Boxers. He emphasizes that these men will be brought back to China and punished for their crimes. Suddenly, Chow Wei is killed after eating a dish thick with shrimp paste, as he has a hypersensitivity to it. Brackenreid demands to know why they didn't take precautions, but Sun Yang states that they travelled with a taster, but he was upstairs at the time with a woman who was also part of the entourage. Also, wherever they go, the cooks are instructed not to cook with shrimp paste. Brackenreid quickly orders Crabtree to gather all the kitchen staff and food and bring it down to the station. Meanwhile, Murdoch and Julia meet at the Queens Hotel. Both have taken steps to make sure they weren't followed and the two have arranged for this meeting to talk about the threatening notes Dr. Ogden has received. Murdoch figures out one of the photos was taken at the station, when they tried to trap Eva Pearce. He recalls two strangers there that day, a blond woman and an old man. Murdoch suspects one of them was James Gillies in disguise, and summons Brackenreid. Back at the station, the inspector and Sun Yang find out someone switched the paste so the chef used shrimp paste instead of bean past for the dish. Sun Yang surveys the staff, and realizes one of them is the Boxer Wu Chang, and Brackenreid moves to arrest him. Instead, Wu Chang fights off the inspector, Crabtree and Higgins, and steals the two officers' nightsticks. Other officers pursue him but he escapes. Constable Crabtree returns to the restaurant on Brackenreid's orders, and finds that the stolen nightsticks have been connected with a short chain. He finds Wu Chang, so George pins him and handcuffs Wu Chang to himself, but they are attacks by three men in black with swords. Wu Chang fights them off with martial arts and his nightsticks, with a little help from Crabtree, and Crabtree tells him he believes him to be innocent. At the morgue, Dr. Grace patches Wu Chang up after the fight. Crabtree and Emily find out that Wu Chang is searching for his sister, Ling, in Toronto. He came to the restaurant after finding a message supposedly from his martial arts master, Yu Da, to meet with him there. Dr. Grace compliments his English, and the pair finds out Wu Chang is not a Boxer and knows English because his father believed China's future was in the West. Before they can find out more, the three are interrupted by the arrival of Leslie Garland, who's come for a date with Emily. Brackenreid is reading the notes aloud at the hotel, and realizes why Dr. Ogden refused Murdoch's proposal. Murdoch asks Brackenreid to find out the identities of the old man and the blond woman. Julia is a little scared, but Brackenreid assures her that he'll be discreet. The inspector also sets off to talk to the constabulary in that area about James Gillies as well. Wu Chang and Crabtree talk in Chinatown, George expressing amazement at his fighting skills. Wu Chang says it is kung fu, but when George asks Wu Chang to teach him, he explains that kung fu is not a martial art, but any act achieved through hard work and diligence. Wushu is the proper name for martial arts and Crabtree begs to learn a move. Wu Chang demonstrates a way to free a hostage from an opponent, and gains George's trust. Afterwards, Constable Crabtree decides to hide Wu Chang in his apartment. Wu Chang agrees to let George do his job proving his innocence, but then the conversation shifts to Dr. Grace. Wu Chang calls him a man of honour for sacrificing his happiness for Dr. Grace's. The next day, Crabtree tries to broach the possibility of Wu Chang being innocent, but is shot down by Sun Yang, who reveals evidence that he killed a man in China. George leads officers back to his apartment in disillusionment, but finds Wu Chang has escaped once more. As George searches for Yu Da he meets Mrs. Brackenreid in the market, who wants to learn to cook Chinese food. When Mr. Lee, the vendor hesitates to give George information about Yu Da, Mrs. Brackenreid asserts herself and demands he do so. Mr. Lee tells them the man lives on Chester Street, and George exits. George goes to the house on Chester Street and talks to Yu Da, who is blind. He finds Wu Chang's chained nightsticks after Yu Da denies Wu Chang is there, and Wu Chang confronts Crabtree about his "betrayal." George asks about the man he killed, but Wu Chang says he killed him in defence of his father. Yu Da interrupts to reveal three men are approaching, the same attackers as before. He orders George and Wu Chang to hide, and fights the three men with his staff in the dark, defeating them. Sun Yang and Brackenreid discuss the case in his office, and Mrs. Brackenreid comes by with a Chinese feast. Brackenreid is reluctant, but enjoys the meal, and the couple stays a little longer at the station. At Yu Da's house, Wu Chang finds a photograph of his family with Yu Da and the true emperor. They had supported the emperor's wish to reform China into a constitutional monarchy, but the Empress Dowager had taken over, imprisoning the emperor in the Forbidden City, and the usurpers took the streets, killing foreigners. The reformers were hunted down by the usurpers, so they had to flee, with China accusing them of being Boxers to alienate them from everyone else. The next day, Crabtree reveals the truth about the Chinese government hunting down democratic reformers, but Brackenreid insists on questioning Yu Da and arresting Wu Chang. Instead, George compromises by handcuffing Wu Chang to himself and the three go to Chester Street, but find Yu Da has been murdered. A note is left behind that says the attackers have Wu Chang's sister, Ling, and Wu Chang takes off. Crabtree doesn't chase after him, realizing that some of the characters on the note are the same as the ones on the Chinese restaurant. Wu Chang tries to fight off the attackers and frees his sister. Brackenreid and Crabtree arrive with rifles but Mrs. Brackenreid arrives in the middle of the fight is taken hostage by the attackers. George uses the opportunity to take what Wu Chang taught him and saves Mrs. Brackenreid. Crabtree and Brackenreid quickly take control the situation and one of the attackers is revealed to be Sun Yang. Sun Yang is questioned by the police, but had no motive for killing Chow Wei. However he does admit to hunting reformists for the Empress Dowager and killing Yu Da. Crabtree goes to question Wu Chang and Ling, and realizes quickly that Wu Chang is innocent, but his sister had motive, opportunity, and the means to kill Chow Wei. Regrettably, Ling doesn't understand English, and only Wu Chang hears George's accusations. Realizing the truth, Wu Chang confesses to the crime to save Ling from the noose. Meanwhile, Julia and Emily do an autopsy on a body believed to be James Gillies. They reconstruct his face and find out Gillies really did die in the river, as he also has the same bullet that George shot into his body. That's when Murdoch figures outthe perpetrator is actually Leslie Garland. George yells at Wu Chang, believing he shouldn't hang for his sister's crime. However, Wu Chang reveals he killed the man who killed his father once he was already dead, thus making it murder. Wu Chang explains his reasoning, saying that once the Empress regains international favour he'll be sent back to die by a thousand cuts. He calls George his friend and says it's all for the best. Brackenreid agrees with Wu Chang's reasoning, even though George is still perturbed by it, and Brackenreid commands him to let the issue rest. Later, Murdoch, Dr. Ogden, and Inspector Brackenreid confront Mr. Garland on his date with Emily, and he admits he did send the notes. Emily dumps him with a slap, and Leslie explains that he did it because he thought Dr. Ogden cheated on his brother. Julia decides that Garland shouldn't be arrested and instead commands him to leave his brother's house along with his possessions, otherwise anything remaining past tomorrow would be sold. Brackenreid also tells him to never come back to Toronto again. Julia and William then take a walk in the sunlight, happy at finally being free. Character Revelations *It is revealed Leslie is the one who has been sending those nasty notes to Julia this whole time. *George Crabtree learns some wushu and wushu philosophy in this episode. Continuity *Continuing with the James Gillies death plot arc, his body is supposedly located and examined by Dr. Grace, Dr. Ogden and Murdoch. They conclude the rotting corpse is really him and that Gillies is finally dead. *Emily breaks up with Leslie in this episode after slapping him (see Character Revelations) Historical References *The Boxer Rebellion in China (1892-1900) was caused by peasants who wished to get rid of the Qing dynasty and foreign influence. However, once the Empress Dowager backed the rebellion, they decided to simply get rid of all foreigners, and massacred Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians. However, an international force of Austria-Hungarian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, English, and American soldiers subdued the rebellion and took Peking, China's capital. *The Tongzhi Emperor ruled from 1861 to 1875. He attempted to have political reform in China, however, he was overshadowed by his mother, the Empress Dowager Cixi, who took over state affairs and made sure the imperial system continued forward. Trivia *This is the first time Crabtree's name has been used in a title. *Mrs. Brackenreid uses chopsticks with her left hand. *Both Cantonese and Mandarin are spoken in this episode interchangably. Errors Cast Main Cast Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch Thomas Craig as Thomas Brackenreid Jonny Harris as George Crabtree Helene Joy as Julia Ogden Georgina Reilly as Emily Grace Recurring Cast Arwen Humphreys as Margaret Brackenreid Giacomo Gianniotti as Leslie Garland Guest Starring Allen Keng as Wu Chang Russell Yuen as Sun Yang Daniel Park as Yu Da Tsu-Ching Yyu as Ling Other Cast Robert Lee as Chow Wei Dominic Fung as Mr. Lee Warren Chow as Head Chef Norman Yeung as Taster Michael Chan as Man in Chinatown References Gallery imgres-1.jpg|Chow Wei images-1.jpg|Chopsticks and Crabtree tumblr_n3dndrLKiG1sj2dfxo1_500.jpg|George and Wu Chang in Chinatown Mrs. Brackenreid.jpg|Mrs. Brackenreid in Chinatown images.jpg|Martial arts! imgres-2.jpg|Confrontation of Mr. Garland images-2.jpg|Scene Practice Category:Season Seven